Bikes on a plane

AMcK

Starting to arrange some mtb riding a little further afield next year (for the first time), so am looking at the bike bags/cases, specifically for flights (so that Father Christmas knows what to bring me...), with a focus on bike protection and weight – grateful for any recommendations or pointers!!

amclinden

http://bikeboxalan.co.uk/
These look good and you can hire them aswell if you don't need them again...

andermt

I've just flown out to Japan on business for a while so brought my bike with me, I did some searching around to find something at a decent price as have no idea how often I will use it.

I ended up with the EVA case.
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/22770/EVA-Hard-Bike-Carry-Case-Bike-bag-box-For-Road---Mountain-Bikes.html

With my Giant Anthem it was exactly on the 23kg limit that Virgin apply for free for sports equipment.

It arrived in Japan looking exactly the same as it did when I left it at Heathrow so no damage to the bag or bike, it's a bit tight inside (I have a XL frame) and requires the rear deraillier to be removed, the straps inside to hold the bike are a bit poor as you will deform the bag if you over tighten. The info on Rutland site says the handles are confortable, the are but they are useless for pulling the bag along behind you so I ended up using one of the tightening straps.

Overall the important thing was how the bag worn and protected the bike and on both counts it was successful, (although I know this can be pure luck depending on baggage handlers) it's a little akward to drag along although the wheels are good, weight wise it is pretty light.

However check your planned airline as they all have different rules, Virgin were great, thankfully they didn't weigh it, a collegue who is also out here with his bike got stung for extra charges due to the size as they had tight maximum dimensions of 2meters (length+width+height=2m).

AMcK

Thanks amclinden and andermt! I'll check these out.